Romans: By His Grace - For His Glory
5th in the Series
Romans 1:8-11
March 24, 1996
by J. David Hoke
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because
your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in
preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers
at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to
come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you
strong.
(Romans 1:8-11 NIV)
What is the real measure of a human being? If you take the time to look closely, you
will notice that a human life is defined by a multitude of qualities, relationships,
circumstances, and possessions. When you examine a person closely, you discover the extent
of their education, experience in life, material possessions, career achievement, and
success in raising a family. It is easy to see how a person is dressed, using language,
and appears to others. And we tend to evaluate people in terms of all of these factors.
But what can these things tell us?
Certainly we can learn some things by the kind of examination mentioned. These are
external things, and externals do say something about us. But it is important to note that
externals, while they say something about us, do not say everything about us. Indeed,
externals may not even say what is most important about us. In fact, they do not.
The problem with judging based on outward appearance is that appearances are often
deceiving. With a little thought, a person can appear to be something that is not really
true. We must look deeper. The old proverb that you cannot judge a book by its cover is
never more true than today. In a day with multicolored and graphically designed book
covers, you never really know whether what is advertised on the outside is really present
on the inside. As always, you must judge a book by its content, not by its cover. And you
must judge your own life in the same manner.
Martin Luther King, Jr., touched on the key issue during his famous speech at the Civil
Rights March in Washington in August, 1963. He said, "I have a dream that my four
little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color
of their skin, but by the content of their character." Indeed! The issue is not
external appearance but internal character. We are who we are on the inside. Your
character is who you are when no one is looking. You can take the pig out of the mud hole
but you can't get the mud hole out of the pig. As soon as he finds another one, he will
flop dead-center in the middle of it. It's just his nature.
The Bible says a lot about Christian character. There we find that each of us is called
to exhibit the character of Christ. And we see many examples of this kind of character.
Today we will see some examples of the character of Paul. Hopefully, we will see some
things which we ourselves possess, and other things which we want.
This should be extremely important to us - this issue of Christian character. Zig
Ziglar asked a very pertinent question. He said, "Your Christian attitude is
contagious. Is yours worth catching?" How would you answer that question? The answer
is critical. You see, our character will determine our influence.
I have had many teachers. Some have taught me more than others. The ones who have
taught me the most have been those who may not have had the most information, but who
showed me by their lives how to live. This should be the goal of every Christian. So in
these few verses of Romans, let's take a look at some of the characteristics of Paul's
life.
A Thankful Attitude
The first characteristic, which describes Paul's character, is thankfulness. Paul
maintained a thankful attitude. His first personal words to these Christians in Rome were,
"I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you." And he had
something for which to be thankful. You see, their faith was being reported all
over the world. This should be true for all Christians. Still some whould say that
this was only polite conversation. I do not believe that. This truly reflected a
characteristic of Paul's attitude. He had learned to be thankful.
In fact, this is rather remarkable. When you look at Paul's life, you see that he had
no easy time. Indeed, because of his commitment to Christ, he had suffered a great deal of
persecution. He could have developed a bitter and unthankful attitude. He had been
persecuted from city to city, beaten, stoned, imprisoned. But he was given to
thankfulness. We see Paul and Silas, locked up in the deepest dungeon of the jail in
Philippi, singing at midnight! Only two kinds of people would do such a thing- fools or
genuinely thankful people. And Paul was certainly no fool.
He had seen the power of thanksgiving in his own life personally. He knew that
thanksgiving was an essential element in everything he did. Listen to what he says about
the key to effective prayer, in Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God." Even prayer must be offered with thanksgiving in order to be
effective. Alexander Whyte, the Scottish preacher, always began his prayers with an
expression of gratitude. One cold, miserable day his people wondered what he would say. He
prayed the following: "We thank Thee, O Lord, that it is not always like this."
Whyte knew that there was always something for which to be thankful, even on a dreary day.
And we should learn the same lesson.
How do you rate in this category? Do you have an attitude of gratitude? Have the tough
times in life left you bitter or made you better? Thanksgiving can make all the
difference. It is a true characteristic of spiritual maturity. It is a true reflection of
the nature of Christ. Without thankfulness, a Christian's character is not complete.
A Servant's Spirit
The next characteristic we notice is that Paul possessed a servant's spirit. He
indicates that his ministry of preaching the Gospel was one in which he was
committed to serve God with his whole heart. It is easy to miss this. But
this is not just religious talk. In fact, we find no such religious talk in Paul at all.
Notice the focus of his service. It is to God. Even though the preaching of the
Gospel was directed at the people, Paul saw that his devotion was to God alone.
Paul's ministry was never man-centered; it was always God-centered. And our service can
never be for people. It must always be for God. We may serve people, but we serve them for
God. Because we first serve Him, we can serve others.
Notice also the depth of his service. It was with his whole heart. It was not
half-hearted service. It was whole-hearted service. This is the only kind of service God
desires.
There is an interesting passage in 1 Kings 11. It is the story of Solomon, the wisest
man in the world. Unfortunately this story is not about his wisdom. God had told Solomon
not to take foreign women as wives. Solomon, however, chose to disobey God and marry many
foreign wives. Solomon did not have simply one foreign wife, he had hundreds. In fact, he
had one thousand women.
The result was that Solomon allowed his heart to be turned away from God. Listen to
what the Scripture says in 1 Kings 11:4, "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned
his heart after other Gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as
the heart of David his father had been." God judged Solomon because he was not
fully devoted to Him.
What does this say to us? The answer is simple. It says that 95% devotion is 5% short.
God desires that we, like Paul, serve Him with our whole heart.
How do you rate on this standard? Do you have a servant's spirit? Are you following God
because of what you can get out of it? Or would you characterize your life as one that
seeks to serve?
A Prayerful Concern
Another characteristic of Paul's inner character expresses itself in a prayerful
concern. He called God to be his witness of how constantly I remember you in my prayers
at all times. In other words, Paul was concerned about these Christians whom he had
never met. That concern moved Paul to pray.
This was not unusual for Paul. Prayer had become more than something he did on
occasion. Prayer had become a way of life for Paul. Over and over in his letters, Paul
emphasizes the importance of prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 he exhorts us to "pray
continually." In Ephesians 6:18 he says, "And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always
keep on praying for all the saints." These kinds of exhortations fill Paul's
letters to the churches.
Again, prayer is a characteristic of the nature of Christ. In the Gospels, we see that
Christ would always steal away and find a solitary place to pray. He spent whole nights in
prayer. Prayer was as natural to our Lord as breathing is to us. And prayer should be
natural for the Christian, although it could be described as supernaturally-natural.
How are you doing on this one? Is your life characterized by prayer? Do you pray with
concern and out of an attitude of thanksgiving for your brothers and sisters in Christ?
A Submissive Will
An additional characteristic of Paul is that he had developed a submissive will. Notice
what he says in the last part of verse ten: "and I pray now at last by God's will
the way may be opened for me to come to you." Again no religious talk here. When
Paul spoke of God's will he was not only indicating that he was concerned about
knowing that will but he was also indicating that he was willing to submit to that will in
his own life.
Paul recognized something that all Christians should recognize. He recognized that the
Lord controlled his life. He understood that God had a will for everything in his life and
he was content for it to be so. He had developed a submissive attitude of heart. He had
decided that he would bring his will captive to Christ.
This is what we mean when we talk about surrender. To surrender to Jesus Christ means
that we willingly submit ourselves to Him. And submission begins in the heart of the one
who submits. Submission is never imposed upon from without. True submission is a decision
on the part of the one who chooses to submit. Otherwise it is not really submission.
The story is told of a little boy in a highchair. One day his mother found him standing
up in the highchair and told him to sit down. He replied that he would not! She told him
again. Again in defiance, he said that he would not. After several repeated attempts to
get him to sit down, she was at the end of her rope. She told him that if he did not sit
down in that highchair at once she would give him a spanking, and she meant it. As he sat
down he said, "I may be sitting down on the outside, but I'm standing up on the
inside." He may have submitted, but that is not submission. Submission begins on the
inside. Paul had a submissive will.
Where are you on the submission scale? Are you standing up on the inside? Have you
truly surrendered to Jesus Christ, or are you simply allowing Him to have a little bit of
your life.
A Gracious Heart
One final characteristic in this passage of Scripture could be described as a gracious
heart. Paul shares something of his heart when he says, "I long to see you so that
I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong." He not only wanted
to come to them, he wanted to give to them. He wanted to see them, not so that he could be
the beneficiary of their goodness, but so he could impart to them some spiritual
gift. Here is a gracious heart indeed.
So many people today are wrapped up in what they can get out of life. The popular
slogan on television tells us that we only go around once and so we must grab all the
gusto we can get. We've become a consumer oriented society. We preach the new gospel of
meeting needs. Even churches are chosen like this today. People look to see what kind of
youth program, or children's program, or single's program, or music program or other
program is available. Implied is the question: "What can you do for me?" Seldom
is the question asked: "What can I do for the church?" John Kennedy, in his
inaugural address, issued the powerful challenge: "Ask not what your country can do
for you; ask what you can do for your country." It would be just as relevant to
challenge Christians in the same way. "Ask not what your church can do for you; ask
what you can do for your church." Does this sound strange? It shouldn't.
These attitudes of heart should be present in Christians who are seeking to mature.
Where Christianity is genuine, Christians desire to serve. And, of course, it reflects the
character of Christ. He is the ultimate example of what it means to lay one's life down
for another. And He told us that we should do as He did.
Where are you in this regard? Have you come to the place where you agree with Jesus
that it is truly better to give than to receive? Do you desire to impart a blessing to
others or do you demand that they bless you first?
Part of growing in the Lord is being changed from the inside out. Developing a thankful
attitude, a servant's spirit, a prayerful concern, a submissive will, and a gracious heart
is part of the process of becoming like Christ. It is part of the process of being
conformed to the image of God's Son. It is called maturity.
If you have been challenged by these characteristics and desire to see them grow in
your life, you must understand that they come from a living relationship with Jesus. They
come from a surrender of your life to Him and from a surrender of your whole heart. As you
live from that point of surrender and allow God to make sense out of all that you have
experienced in life, you will find His character growing up inside of you. That's the real
issue of life. That is what really matters.
Copyright (C) 1996 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of
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